Story
We met through the Dean’s Scholar’s Honors Program (DS) at the University of Texas at Austin, where Griffin studied Physics and Plan II Honors (class of 2019) and Maike studied Math (class of 2020).
We were both very involved with DS and became close friends through leadership in the program.
By the time Griffin graduated, we were best friends.
When Griffin started a PhD program in Applied Physics at Stanford University, we kept in close contact. After Maike graduated from UT in 2020, she too began a PhD program at Stanford—hers in Biology. We were “randomly assigned” as next door neighbors in graduate housing and spent nearly every waking moment together during fall 2020, as we weathered the pandemic and worked from home together in California.
As we spent the 2020 winter break apart, we realized we missed each other in a way different from how we missed other dear friends. We broached the topic in January 2021 and, after much discussion, Maike gave Griffin a type-written letter during a break from a beautiful coastal bike ride. “I think we’ll make a great team.”
Our lifestyles and priorities grew even more aligned over the subsequent three years of dating. Maike started skiing and Griffin started running. Maike has learned physics, and Griffin biology. Griffin now eats leftovers for lunch instead of sandwiches, and Maike has rediscovered pleasure reading. We’ve cooked countless meals together, traveled around the world, and put down roots in a wonderful church and graduate student community at Stanford. We have spent long months apart and short months together. It has been a great joy to intertwine our lives.
In August 2023, while on a hike in the nearby Santa Cruz mountains with Maike’s mom and roommate, Griffin pulled Maike away from the group, handed Maike a type-written note, fished a ring box out of the hiking pack, and got down on one knee. “We make a great team. Let’s make it official?”
